Calculate Work Relative Value Units (wRVUs) for medical services using CPT codes. Essential for medical billing, physician compensation, and healthcare management.
2026 Medicare rate: $33.89 (optional for payment estimation)
Relative Value Units (RVUs) are the foundation of the Medicare physician payment system and are widely used throughout healthcare for:
This calculator focuses on Work RVUs - the most important component for physician productivity and compensation analysis.
Example: base payment
Many healthcare organizations pay physicians based on wRVU production.
Typical rates: $40-80 per wRVU depending on specialty and market
The RVU system was originally designed as a fair way to value physician services. But it has had an unintended consequence: because procedure-heavy specialties generate far more wRVUs per hour than cognitive (evaluation-and-management) specialties, the system creates financial incentives that pull physicians away from primary care.
A dermatologist performing biopsies can generate 6+ wRVUs/hour, while a primary care physician averages about 4 wRVUs/hour — at significantly higher documentation burden.
With wRVU-based compensation, hourly earnings vary dramatically by specialty:
This 3:1 pay ratio helps explain why the U.S. faces a projected shortage of up to 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034 (AAMC data).
The RUC controversy: The AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) — a 31-member panel dominated by specialists — recommends wRVU values to CMS. Critics argue this structure systematically undervalues primary care and overvalues procedures, since specialists effectively set their own prices.